Hi, im a newbie to the world of chickens let alone this site..two weeks since i brought home what i thought were young Chantecler hens..turns out they both are really Roosters....the cocka-doodle-dooing the next morning should have been a clue haha Only one of the two was doing it..anyway...i have been reading posts from how to build a coop, feeding , winter time to runs and how to keep coops clean...lots of info and much appreciated, however i see so many conflicting info and schools of thought...for one a out changing the run and coop...read you can just turn over and over making compost and that there are enzymes that are good for the birds, that one can change the area for good cleaning twice a year...i thought wow super! Then i read, have to clean out coop one a month and also the run, change spots for the run so grass to grow back, that lots of harmful bacteria for chicken if left bare ect...so now i still have no idea what is best!! I am in laval ouest quebec, we have a small backyard and my husband built a run 6 foot by 3 foot by 5 foot outside along the garage..he made a whole for them to go in garage but its not complete..for now its a 4 by 2 cage up on a block with hay ect for sleeping...we are going to build walls in the garage and make their area much larger than it is now...we bought three more hens and the man that saw our roosters wanted one for his flock so we exchanged one for a hen ...so now we have 4 hens one is ready to start laying she is about 6 months and the other 3 are only about 3 months...now i have a new problem...i read that we should not interfere with the chickens etc if they fight, that its normal to establish a hierarchy, but Larry (thought he was Laverne, called my roosters Laverne and Shirley anyway) is pecking at all of them, and they can't get away..he corners them and they are terrified...im afraid he is going to kill them...i could not take it so ended up separating him...he has 1/3 of the run and at night when they were all put away had him sleeping in another cage set up on a brick inside the run...my husband is going to build a separate coop and run for him...well now how in the world do i introduce him to one of the hens ...is he attacking cause they are too small and they need to be mature...im not trying to have them mate yet as i want my hens for eggs..but I thought they would get along until that time together then when they were 6 months separate him from all but one,,,if anyone cares to comment on any or all of my whole life with chickens please do so!! It would be greatly appreciated!! P.S. i am 50 this month, never would I have thought I would have chickens! I was visiting someone last year and they had some...i fell in love with the idea and the more i thought about it the more i wanted them...convinced hubby and a year later i started my family hahaha (i do have a daughter but she left the nest!)
